The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-10-30

blCNt. Christianity has been ready with !
whip and chain and fire TO Danish freedom
from the earth
Neither is it true that "iamly life with
crs under the cold snccr hall pity and
half scom with which | look down on
household Worship
Those who believe IN the existence OF
God, and believe that they are indebted
10 this divine being for the few CLEANS oi
sunshine in this life, and who thank God
Tor the little they have enjoyed, have my
entire respect Never have said one
word against the spirit of thankiulncss.
! understand the feeling OF the man who
gathers his family about him after the
storm, or after the scourgc, or after long
sickness, and pouls out his heart IN thank
/ iulnrsS To- the supposed tod, who has pro-
/ tCctrd his tirvsidc. ! understand the
| spirit OF the savage who thanks his idol
| ui stone, or his fetch OF wood. II is not
/ the wisdom OF the one or the other that |
/ respect; it is the goodness and thankful
ness that prompt the prayer
TIIE PANTY.
! believe In the family. | believe in
family lie and one of my objections To
christianity is that il divides the family
Upon this subject have said hundreds ol
times, and siy again, that the rooi-trcCis
sacred from the smallest fiber that feels the
soft, cool clasp oi earth 10 the topmost
flower that spreads its bosom to the sun,
and, like a spcndthriit, gives It's perfume
Ia the air. The home where virtue dNclls
with love Is like II lily with heart of lire,
the iaircst flower in all this world.
What did christianity in the early cen
turtles do iOr the homrl What have nun
ncrcs aud munaslcrics, aud what has the
Qualification ul cclihacy done for the lNlu-
ily? DO YOU not know that Christ himself
oilcrcd rewards in this world aud ctcrnnl
happiness in another to those who would
desert their wives aud children aud follow
him? What effect has that promise had
upon family life?
IA n matter Of fact, the family Is re-
carried as nothing. Christianity teaches
that there is hut one family, the family oi
Christ, and that all other relations are Us
nothing compared with that. Christianity
teaches the husband 10 desert the wife,
iirr wife Ia dcs'rt the husband, children
10 desert their parents Tor the miserable
and selfish purpose ui saving their own
little, shriNclcd souls.
I II Is Tar better inr man to love his
fellow men than Ia love Tod. II Is better
. to love wife and children than to love
Christ. II * better Ia serve your neigh
Dor than 90 serve your God -cycn II Gud
exists The reason is palpnblC You can
do nothing Tor God. You can do some
thing for wife aud children. You can add
, 10 the sunshine ol u Lille. You can plant
flowers Ia a." pathway Of another.
II Is true that am nm enemy oi the or.
thodoN sabbath. It's true that | do not
( believe Ia giving onc-scvcnth Of our time
, 10 the service oi superstition. The whol'
. scheme ui your religion can lie understood
= 10y any intelligent man IN one day. VIII,
= should he wiuste u seventh Of his whole III
in hearing the same thoughts repcatc'
again aud againY
, Nothing * morc gloomy than an ortho
: dox Sabbath. The mechanic who has
| worked during the week Ia heat and dust
{ the laboring man who has barely sue
, ccrdCd in keeping his soul in his body, the
poor woman who has been Swing for III,
rich, may ~ to the village church which
4 You have described They answer the
q chimes IT the bell, aud what do they hear
Ia this village church, Is Il that God ~
the father of the human ucc; II that all
II that wcrc NIL, YOU never would hay,
heard an objection from INV LIPS. That n
not all II all ministers said. Bear the
evils 81 this life; your father In heaven
counts your tcnrs; the time will come when
pain and death aud grief will bc forgotten
words, ! should have listened with the
! rest What else does the minister siy Ia
y the poor people who have answered thC
, chimes Of your bell lie glvE 1.-THE
SMALLEST sin deserves eternal pain ~
vast majority II men arr doomed Ia suffer
the wrath II God forever lie fills the
. present with fear aud the futur with fir
T, he has heaven for the few, hell for th,
J many. lie describes little l,rass-growr
b path that leads Ia heaven, where traveller
are "irw and lar between, aud grcaI
! highway worn with countless feet that
! lcads To everlasting death.
TmE SABBATH.
r Such Sabbaths ar immoral. Such min
y listers arr real E,yagcs. Gladly would
b abolish such a Sabbath. Gladly would
y turn Il into a holiday. day oi rest ana
. prncr. u day a. get acquainted with YOU
{ wife and children, u day to exchange civil
b tiles with your ncighborr; and gladly woult
3, | SEQ the church IN which sermons M,
I preached changed 10 q place IT entertain
\ mrnt Gladly would have the echoes %
/. orthodox sermons the owls and hat
, among the nitcnS, the snakes IN Crryicc,
I aud corners driven out by the glorious
. music ui Wagner aud Beethoven. GLADLY
!. would | Hro the SUNDAY school, where tht
doctrine ~ eternal fir N taught, changed
r Ia happy dance upon the village green
= Music rcdncs. The doctrine NJ ciernn
= punishment dcgrndrs. Science ciyilizcs
Superstition looks longingly back tn ay
Il ngrry.
. You do not believe that general moulii,
, can be- upheld without the sanctions Of NJ
y ligion.
i Christianity has sold and continues /,
- sell, crime on u credit. II has trught, ant
g still teaches, that there " forgiveness ~
Il al. Of course II teaches morality i
n sayE "Do not steal, 40 not murder In
X il adds but II YOU do both, there u
u way II escape; believe In the Lord Jcsu
y Christ aud thou shalt bc saved insis
that such "a religion is no restraint, II y
g far better a. teach that there Is no forgive
g ncs-, and that every human bcing mus
4 bear the consequences Ui his acts
2 Wcr, the early christians lacking In r.
spcct for their fathers and mothcpi Wcr
y the pngans Who embraced chrisiianii,
y hrarilers SOUS and daughters What hay,
u you Ia say Of the apOstlcs2 Did they no
y heap contempt upon the religion o
their fathers aud mothers? Di'
y they not Join with him who dcnouncc,
- their people asa generation Oi yipcnf
did thpy not follow one who offered No.
ward to those who would desert father ant
q mother? Of course yon have only 10 e
J.. back q few generations IN your famil,
a to linda Field who Nnsnut Presbyterian
y After that YOU find Presbyterian. Wa
h lac infamous enough 10 heap contemp
n upon the religion oi his father aud mother
4 an the protostanis lin the tim,
u Of Luther lacked in respect 10